Rumor: Wii U Parts Cost $180, Console to Cost $300

There is a lot that we, as fans and followers of the industry, know about the Wii U: its graphics are at least on par with current generation consoles, the controller is designed like a tablet, and the console is coming this fall. There is even more, though, that we don’t know; namely, the price of the system is a fact that largely eludes our knowledge. Speculation has put the system at anywhere from an affordable $250 to a reasonable $400. Today’s rumor, courtesy of Canadian media outlet Forget the Box, pegs the Wii U’s final price tag between those two ends of the spectrum at $300.

This number comes not of nowhere but instead out of further rumors citing the cost of the Wii U’s as somewhere in the vicinity of $180. That number, despite its massive size in comparison to the sum of my wallet, is relatively small compared to the presumed value of next generation hardware. The very same sources that confirmed this rumor have also indicated that Nintendo is utilizing an economic GPU that will do anything but compete with the barrier-breaking technology sure to come from Microsoft and Sony in the coming years.

Obviously, Nintendo is in the business of making money, and, as we all know, cash doesn’t come from positive thinking and good will; it comes from making a profit on produced goods. A $300 price tag won’t enrage or delight anyone, but it will give the populace a glimpse into the potential of Nintendo’s next major iteration on their hardware line. At the moment, it doesn’t seem that the Wii U will be setting the visual world ablaze.